Never Send a Bat to do a Bird's Job
by Batscribe29
Summary: Batman has been poisoned by the Joker by an unknown toxin. It's up to Dick, Jason, Tim, Barbara and Alfred to bring the clown to his knees... with a bit of help from the an Emerald Archer.
1. Prologue

_A/N: I try to envisage the characters with their most memorable voices from all media, so picture Batman, Joker and Red Robin with their Arkham City voices and our cameo stars with their HBO TV Show personas._

_**Prologue**_

"Now let's see... a dash of that... drop of this... HA HA HA maybe even a pinch of whatever we have here...ohh this is going to be delicious, hehee!"

ACE Chemicals. 3am. A purple dressed figure is dancing around a vat of chemicals, brewing up a heinous concoction of toxic waste and all sorts of unknown ingredients.

"MR J!" screeched a high pitched voice.

"What is it poo?" replied Joker.

"Bugsy and Big Top aren't answering the radio."

"OH NO! WHAT WILL WE DO?" he muttered sarcastically.  
"I smell flying rodents too." Harley squawked, holding up a bat-shaped metal projectile she'd found on the floor. Joker stared at Harley, pondering his next move.

"Deal with it. Now." His voice was unusually cold, even for him... Harley ran off down the hallway.

"You two! With me!" Harley ordered two henchmen as she disappeared into the darkness.

Joker paused for a second. He didn't know what to do. He'd only just escaped from Arkham and was building up for a Christmas prank. It's September! What will he do? Suddenly, two henchmen patrolling the outer walkways were taken into the darkness... funny thing was, they were on opposite sides of the room.

"He's not alone Harley! He's brought a bird with him!" Joker shouted, with a little more anxiety in his voice than usual. SMASH! The window behind him shattered into pieces as Red Robin jumped through it. He landed with swoop of his bowstaff and knocked out the henchman behind him. As Joker searched for a comical opening line, the skylight above him came down with a thud and crashed into his concoction of chemicals. Standing on top of what was left was the Bat himself.

"Sorry Bird-Boy, his was better!" Joker said, secretly pleased with the line.

"Enough!" Batman retorted, "Where's Detective Montoya?"

"Oh she's right over there." Joker pointed at a shadowy box, with only just enough light upon it to make out that it was a glass box... with the detective inside. She was clutching one wall of the glass prison with a look of fear that even Batman would feel for. "Lights, Harley!" Joker shouted. As the light filled the room, another glass box appeared next to the one Montoya was in, and this one contained a tiger. It could also be seen that there was a door in between the two. "Now if you so much as sneeze I unlock that door and the good detective hear becomes a carcass in the corner."

"Why Joker?" Red Robin asked.

"She's done me a great injustice." Joker heartily replied.

"Which was?" Batman replied through gritted teeth.

"She QUESTIONED me." Joker replied before cackling manically. Batman was taken aback. How could he know this?

"If you think I'll let you run..." He said, advancing forward.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold the phone, operator! One more step and I'll press it." Joker warned as he pulled out a remote control from his pocket. "You know I'da thought you of all people w.." Joker was stopped as the remote was knocked out of his hands. "Wha?" Joker stared at the remote, skewered on the wall by an arrow. "Shouldn't you be in Star City?" Joker turned to see a figure standing in a window.

"You stole from Queen Consolidated's applied sciences department. I wanted to follow up the lead." Replied Green Arrow.  
"I knew you'd eventually show up, hood boy, so I brought along some protection. Oh mister Wilson!" Joker said as a Joker goon removed his mask to reveal himself to be Deathstroke. He charged towards Arrow who had leaped down to ground level, bow primed and ready. The two began to battle, both showing their prowess in hand-to-hand combat. Deathstroke made his attacks with his sword, while Arrow decided to use his bow and a melee weapon. Meanwhile Batman and Red Robin moved towards Joker as the clown watched the duel take place. Batman drew a batarang from his belt and took aim. Joker turned sharply towards them, a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

"Nice try, but you of all people should know I always have one more trick up my sleeve." He said, gesturing to his right hand. As Batman quickly examined Joker's right hand, he was struck in the face by the left, and he felt a twinge in his cheek. He looked up to see Joker holding a mini-syringe in his left hand, but he was quickly wrestled to the ground by Red Robin. "I'll visit you in Gotham General, Bats!" Joker laughed. Batman lay on the ground, clutching his face. He could taste blood, but there was something else in there too. He spotted the batwing hovering above the open window, and shot his batclaw up to hoist him into the cockpit.

"Leaving the party so soon?" Joker said with a hint of sadness. Batman pulled himself into the seat of the batwing, blacking out only after seeing Red Robin lay a few blows into Joker's white skull.


	2. 1 Rocky Road for a Robin

_A/N: I plan to have a side story going alongside the main plotline in this fanfic, with Green Arrow meeting various Gotham Rogues along the way. Excluding today's continuation of Arrow vs. Deathstroke, that shall start in Chapter 2._

Joker laughed as Red Robin sent blow after blow into his skull. Left hook after right hook, over and over again in a seemingly never ending cycle of punches. He sent Joker to the corner of the room with a flying kick to the chest and then looks up to see the batwing speed off into the distance. He looks down to see Joker heading for the door.

"Don't even think about it, Joker!" Robin shouted.

"I'm afraid I've done more than that, bird boy." Joker said, as he pressed the button on his remote, releasing the tiger, and sending Detective Montoya into fits of screams and pleas for help. Robin jumped on the glass cage, smashing in the glass and tackling the tiger. It was reckless, but he didn't have time to think of a better option. As he wrestled the tiger, clasping at its neck to lull it into unconsciousness, he held in the back of his mind, the notion that Bruce would have looked badly upon his decision. And because of this, he was disappointed in himself. He pulled the tiger up against a wall, and tugged on its neck until he felt it go limp. As the great beast fell to the ground, Robin made sure it was still breathing. It was. '_Good' _he thought. He went over to help up the Detective.

"Why did Joker kidnap you?" Robin asked.

"I don't know. I think I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Montoya replied. "Are you going after him?"

"I need to check on Batman. Joker can wait for a day." Robin replied. "Does the GCPD know anything on what Joker was making?

"I'll call it in." Said Montoya, as she grabbed her radio.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow and Deathstroke had made their way onto the rooftops adjacent to the chemical factory. Deathstroke parried arrow after arrow being fired at him, his sword being used much more defensively that he thought it should be. He ducked for one arrow, and rolled forwards to bring himself closer to Green Arrow. Here he could utilize his martial arts prowess and exploit Arrow's (only slight) disadvantage from close range. Arrow swung his bow like a mace and Deathstroke parried with his sword. Arrow saw from the corner of his eye, Joker heading for a car with Harley in the driver's seat.

"Sneaky son-of-a..." He was stopped mid sentence by a kick to the chest, knocking him off the rooftop. He fired a roped arrow straight at Deathstroke, and it pierced his shin. Deathstroke winced in pain, and was then dragged off the rooftop with Arrow. Whilst falling, he shot a grapnel gun at the wall, and grabbed the rope sticking out of him, to stop the weight of Green Arrow tearing his shin bone out of his leg. The rope snapped off from the arrow. Deathstroke kicked off the wall and flipped back onto the rooftop. He turned around and smirked as he heard a THUD from below.

"Nice try. See ya round." He said as he limped off into the night.

Back at the cave, Alfred was frustratedly tending to Bruce's injury.

"Master Bruce, I have examined the substance in your blood, but the Bat-Computer can't pinpoint its origin. It isn't anything that Joker has used before and it has no traces of Joker gas." He said with a concerned look.

"It's a concentrated and fast acting form of Dimethylmercury." Red Robin said, entering the cave.

"And that would be?" replied Green Arrow, entering from the vehicle entrance.

"A man-made poison, except this one has been enhanced. Normally, Dimethylmercury takes months to kill you; this extract will take 3 days at most, according to the scientists at the GCPD." Bruce just lay there, as calmly as possible, even though the pain he was experiencing would send a typical man screaming in agony.

"Master Timothy, is there any cure?" Alfred enquired.  
"That's what I'm going to find out." He replied.  
"Tim..." Bruce muttered "you're in charge." Tim stepped back.

"Really? You think I can handle it?" He replied.

"Yes." Bruce said sharply. "Ollie, can you stay in Gotham for a while?"

"I was going to anyway; I need to catch Joker as much as you do." Ollie replied, pulling down his hood.

Later, Tim was pacing in the lower levels of the cave. He thought to himself as to why he would be ready to take over from Bruce, albeit temporarily. After the rash decision back at ACE Chemicals, was he really ready? Will he ever be? Could Tim Drake eventually take up the hallowed mantle of the bat? Maybe, if Bruce thinks so.

"You ok Tim?" Ollie said from the stairwell. "You've been down here for half an hour."

"I'm fine." He muttered. "It's just that I don't know whether I'm ready or not."

"Bruce seems to think so. I do too."

"You've only known me for a year, Bruce has known me for 5 times that, at least."

"Ah, but as I've been told by Speedy so many times, I'm a good judge of character; a trait I picked up on the island."

"Maybe I should spend time on a deserted island." Tim said, removing his mask. Ollie laughed.

"With Bruce's money, you could have a pretty nice holiday." Tim smiled.

"Thanks Ollie. Now I know why Roy doesn't stop talking about you when we're over in Chicago with the Titans."

"Yeah, well... he's never learned to stop talking." Ollie smirked. " I'm going to bed, we need to think of an excuse as to why Oliver Queen is staying in Bruce Wayne's guestroom without prior notice."

"I'll see what I can do."

_A/N: I wrote the Tim and Ollie part as it came to me, it wasn't part of my original plan. I think it's a nice sentiment to the Hero-Sidekick relationship that the Bat Family (and the Arrow family) have together. The next Chapter will be coming within the next few days or so. I'm on a school holiday now so I should have about 3 more chapters done within the next week or so. I love to hear what my readers think, so please REVIEW!_


	3. 2 Enter the Lieutenant

_A/N: If any followers of the story have any ideas or cameo requests, feel free to PM me with your suggestions and if they seem plausible, I'll try and work it into the story. Note: I have a plan for the entire story so try to refrain from any major plotlines. As always, reviews are welcome._

"Calling Batcave, this is Oracle. I repeat: this is Oracle" said the voice over from the computer.

"Ah Miss Gordon, how timely of you to join us!" Alfred replied, turning on the video communications system. "Are you up to speed on our current predicament?"

"Not in the slightest, hit me with it." She replied.

"I'm afraid that Master Bruce has been poisoned with a variation of a rather deadly chemical, with regards from The Joker."

"No! Is there any cure?"

"Master Timothy is scouring the city for answers to that very question. However, on a lighter note, our emerald archer, Oliver Queen AKA Green Arrow, is staying with us in Gotham until this crisis has been dealt with."

"Well at least we have the extra pair of hands. So that makes us a group of 4 now?"

"Indeed. However, I have sent news to Blűdhaven in an attempt to bring Master Dick to our aid." Barbara sighed, remembering all the memories she'd had with Dick before her incident with Joker. She spent every day thinking of new things she would've been able to do if that bullet had been an inch to the side. She turned to a computer in an effort to hide the tear falling down her cheek.

"I'll try to bring in Jason if I can. I know he's not exactly our favourite person but we could do with the manpower. Let's hope he's finished in Keystone City." Jason Todd was never an easy man to reach. He was never in possession of a stable base of operations and, even though he was still counted as a valued member of the team, his appearances in Gotham were rarer than Two-Face forgetting his coin.

Elsewhere in Gotham, Green Arrow was patrolling the rooftops. He didn't know them as well as he knew Star City but he could make his way around without getting lost. Looking at an alleyway, he saw a flash of green move along the road, and it was a BIG flash. He looked round to see that it had left some hefty scratches in the concrete, so he moved around to try and follow the green bulk but lost track of it near an open sewer vent. _'Gotta get dirty in the dirty city' _he thought, as he jumped down the vent.

"Hello?" he said, trying to attract his target. He heard some muffled growling along one route and decided to wade his way in that direction. Looking around, he could see huge scratch marks on the walls, much bigger that those that were on the sidewalk back on the surface. Hoisting himself up on a ledge, he found himself staring at a large abandoned boiler room for the building above, but it had been converted into a makeshift living area. "Nice place you got here." He smirked. He heard a rumbling behind him, and was then shunted to the middle of the room. He flipped round, bow ready to face his attacker. "What?" he said astounded at the large green lizard standing before him.

"I'm angry!" Killer Croc shouted as he lunged for Arrow. Narrowly dodging Croc, Arrow readied himself to fire a net arrow. "Hello Angry, I'm Green Arrow." He fired the net, only for it to be torn apart by Croc's teeth and claws effortlessly. "Oh. You really are angry" He jumped up onto a higher ledge. "Catch me if you can!" he taunted. Croc waited for a moment, then started ripping into the wall. Arrow's ledge began to crumble. Eventually Croc pulled the entire wall down. Croc heard a whistle behind him and turned to see Arrow standing, arms folded. He ushered Croc to look up. Croc did so, and saw that there was an explosive arrow stuck in a rafter above him. It exploded and brought down half the ceiling on top of Croc's head.

"I'm still angry" Croc muttered, before falling unconscious.  
"Well you just stay here and rest big fella." Arrow pushed his ear commlink. "Alfred, I've got some big lizard guy under some rubble in the sewers."

"Ah yes" Alfred replied, "Killer Croc I presume. I'll send someone to pick him up immediately."

"Thanks Al."

After making his way back to the surface, Ollie decided to head for the rooftops. At the top, he looked around the city, to examine his surroundings. He caught a glimpse of a figure running across the rooftops, dressed in black and red. Curious, Ollie followed the figure, until it stopped and turned around.

"Who are you?" the figure said angrily.  
"I'll ask you the same thing." Ollie replied; hand on bow in case it all went bad.

"I'm Nightwing. Who are you?" Ollie let go of his bow.  
"I'm Green Arrow, you here because of Bats?" Dick relaxed a bit.

"I was on my way now. You care to join?" He ushered Ollie to follow him.

"I'd be happy to. Just keep those escrima sticks away from me. Electricity and I don't mix well." Ollie joked. "Did Alfred call you in?"

"Yeah, I left as soon as I heard. Joker's not one for poisoning and running away. I think he's planning something bigger."

"Same here. From what I've heard it's not flamboyant enough for the old clown." Dick pondered on that thought as the two heroes raced back to the Batcave. Joker has been out of character recently; running away, and bringing in Deathstroke as hired muscle? Not his style. He'd just send in good after goon, or even have a go himself.

"I'm Ollie by the way."

"Dick. Pleased to meet you." The pair attempted to shake hands whilst running at full speed over the rooftops, both puzzling on the Joker's motives, and both of them, much like everyone, worrying about Bruce.

_A/N: Here you saw one of the Arrow side stories, today featuring Killer Croc. I might not blend it in with the main narrative like I did with Nightwing here, but it worked out alright so it's an idea. Next chapter up soon._


	4. 3 Frightful Escapade

The Bat-family stood around the bed in the cave, listening to Bruce ordering out a structure for what to do. They could tell he was struggling, even though he was giving an Oscar winning effort no to show it.  
"Okay so we know what we're doing?" Bruce asked. There was a collection of nodding heads around him. "You get that Barbara?" he said looking at the bat-computer.

"Loud and clear, chief" Oracle replied. "Oh and I've sent Ollie over to deal with a bank robbery in the financial district."

"Good work Barb. Okay everyone move out." Bruce ordered as the group dispersed into their own directions; Red Robin took the Bat-Boat to search the docks and Nightwing jumped on his motorcycle. Alfred looked on as both sped off into the distance.

In Cape Carmine, Green Arrow was observing the comings and goings of the night owls of Gotham. Many a truckload of alcohol or food would be brought in to various warehouses, ready to be distributed in the morning. One truck, however, seemed to stand out from the rest. From the cracks in the walls, Arrow could see that it was carrying people. With guns. Silently, he shot an arrow into the wall opposite with a rope attached and slid down it to land on top of the truck.

"What was that?" the driver exclaimed.

"Probably a bird or somethin'" said the thug riding shotgun. Arrow placed his listening device on the roof of the truck to listen in to the conversation.

"Now gentlemen, I have brought you all here today because we need some supplies for our big tea party. We don't want to disappoint Alice now, DO WE?" said a scraggly sounding voice. "Alice is coming tonight, oh I'm so excited!"

"Do we need to worry about the Bat boss?"  
"No. On my own; yes. But that's why I have all of you here. You're my muscled protection." Ollie sat there, trying to work out who this 'Alice' girl was. The truck pulled into the entrance to a warehouse that was seemingly abandoned. Ollie figured that out by the stench alone.

"Go to work boys!" Ollie heard as he hid behind a crate. He looked round to see the henchman loading the truck with crates of explosives; TNT, C4 and Nitro-glycerine were being loaded crate by crate. Ollie waited until the explosives were all packaged and ready, then he jumped out into the open and fired a freeze arrow at the carriage. The crates all stuck together and fused themselves to the ground. Out stepped a small, sickly looking man with a green hat.

"What on earth is this?" He stopped as he saw Green Arrow. "Oh well we can't have this can we? Alice will be disappointed in us now. Kill him!" Unfortunately for the Mad Hatter, whilst he was monologing, Ollie had already chosen to fire a net arrow upwards. He smirked as it clutched all the henchmen and the Hatter as well.

"You know, compared to some of the other guys in this city, you're by far the easiest to catch." Ollie smirked as he tied up the net onto the wall. "Barb, bomb thieves in Cape Carmine led by some goofy guy in a hat?"

"Oh you've found Mad Hatter. Good work Ollie. I'll send the Gordon the report." And with that, Ollie ran off into the distance to defend Gotham once again.

Back at ACE Chemicals, Dick was searching the site for any evidence he would use. Looking around the area, there were a few broken windows, the shattered glass from Joker's cages, and there was an abundance of police tape. He walked up to the empty container and saw a few patches of mould and some paper. '_This is hopeless_' he thought. He turned and was about to leave when he stopped sharply and turned towards the desk atop the platform above. He leaped up there and saw that it was completely clear apart from a small card on the top. It read:

SAMMY'S CIRCUS IS IN TOWN  
WHETHER YOU WANT A LAUGH, A CRY OR A SCREAM,

COME DOWN TO GOTHAM'S AMUSEMENT MILE FOR ALL THE ENTERTAINMENT YOU'LL NEED.

He stared at the card, puzzling as to whether this was a hoax or merely coincidence. As a pupil of Batman, you weren't allowed to believe in coincidence. He rushed off to his motorcycle, ready to speed towards the Amusement Mile.

When he arrived, Nightwing looked around. It was completely deserted; not a soul for miles around. As he walked through the empty stalls and rides, he started coughing. He thought it was just the fumes from the docks so he kept moving onwards. Suddenly he heard a scream, and turned around to see... up on the trapeze were his parents, swinging as they used to.

"Mom! Dad! It's me!" They didn't even look at him. "Over here!" Dick kept shouting, regressing back to his teenage self, back in the circus with his family. Then he saw the rope snap, and his parents falling towards the ground. His eyes followed their falling, but he turned away for the impact. He couldn't bear to see that twice in his lifetime. He took a deep breath, and regained his focus.  
"CRANE! WHERE ARE YOU? GET OUT HERE YA SON OF A..." He stopped. Crane was waving at him on top of a stand. "You little..." Dick sped after him, wondering in the back of his mind, what Scarecrow had to do with all this.


	5. 4 Getting Down and Dirty

_A/N: I was a little pushed for time for the last chapter, but I've had about 3 days to write this chapter so it will be better (hopefully.)_

Racing across the boardwalk, Nightwing threw wing-ding after wing-ding towards the Scarecrow as the psychotic doctor fled the scene. As he moved around the carnival, Dick repeatedly hallucinated about his parents' deaths over and over again.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He shouted. He started thrashing around, trying to literally shake off the ordeal. He spotted Scarecrow laughing in the corner of his eye. He swung a fist around and took the mask clean off of Crane's face. Dick pushed Crane against a wall, drew himself closer and scowled.

"Why are you here?" he growled.

"I was actually waiting for another ex- Robin, but I guess you'll have to do." Crane replied maniacally.

"Another ex-Robin?" Dick paused. _'Jason?' _Suddenly a bullet hit the wall, inches from Crane's head. Dick turned suddenly, escrima stick in hand, but holstered it when he saw Red Hood standing on the boardwalk. "What are you doing here?" Dick said.  
"I've been following Scarecrow up all week. He's planning to dump fear gas into the water supply tanks just north of here; figured he'd just want to cause trouble down at the Mile."

"We need to get back to the cave, there's something you need to know." Dick pushed on his communicator. "Oracle, get the GCPD down to the Amusement Mile. Scarecrow's here."  
"You know, Joker sent me down here..." Scarecrow whispered to Nightwing. The hand around his throat tightened.

"What?" Nightwing snarled at him.  
"Yes, he wanted me to provide a distraction while he planned things out. I don't think I'm the only one as well. But you'll have to stop us all, or Gotham will pay."  
"What's Joker got to do with all this?" Jason said.  
"I'll explain on the way."

"He's what?"

"Mmhmm" Dick sighed, "And we can't find Joker anywhere."

"Have you tried the old Arkham building?"

"Yes."  
"Cape Carmine?"

"Yes."

"What about...?"

"WE'VE TRIED EVERYWHERE!" Dick shouted, nearly losing control of the Batmobile. The communicator beeped.

"Red Robin to Batmobile" screeched the message.

"I hear you." Dick replied.

"Head to the nearest sewage entry point; we've found traces of Joker gas." Tim said.

"Really? This is a new jacket." Red Hood sighed.

"On our way." Dick said. "Hope your air modulator is working on that mask."

"So do I." There was a look of grimace on Jason's face underneath his crimson mask, as the pair sped off to the nearest entry point.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow was sitting on a rooftop in central Gotham, he heard an alarm. Turning his head, he could see that the lights were flashing in the Gotham Museum, and he had a good idea of who was behind it. He looked around the roof of the old building to see any movement, and caught sight of a black leather suit hopping across the fire escapes on the side of a nearby apartment building. _'Gotcha' _he thought. He started to give chase, not getting too close; he could have a bit of fun here. He stayed just enough behind so that he wouldn't give his position away if she turned around, but still kept his eagle eyes on her at all times. She stopped suddenly and turned around.

"Who's there?" She said, anxiously. Arrow smirked and stayed hidden. From his crouched position, he fired an arrow onto the billboard about 10 feet away. Catwoman was startled, not by the noise, but by the arrow. "You're not from around here, are you?" she purred.

"No I am not." Ollie said, standing up from his cover. "You gonna sell those on? Or are you just gonna give them back once you're bored with them?

"I haven't decided. Either way I'll get some fun out of them." She said.

"You know I can't let you keep those, Selina." He smirked.

"How do you know my name?" She blurted out.

"I'm hanging around Bats. You get to know things." He smiled.

"Well I think I'll be off now, but I enjoy a good chase." She winked at him and turned around, juggling the stolen vase in her hands. Mid-air, the vase was pinned to a wall by an arrow shot through the handles.  
"Wait a..." She said before a net clasped itself around her.

"If you can get out of that, I'll leave you alone." Arrow said, walking over to the wall.  
"I'll be out soon. Batman can't stand being without me." She said, slightly disappointed in herself.

Back in the Batmobile, Dick and Jason were pulling up to a sewage maintenance point beside Gotham Park. The jumped out of the car and walked over to the door.

"Can we please hold fire until they engage us first this time?" Dick said.  
"Of course, big brother" Jason retorted sarcastically. He muttered under his breath "you're just jealous my Robin suit was better."

"Oh don't even get me started on that." Dick retorted jokingly as the two entered the sewers.  
"I heard Croc's still down here."


End file.
